Following the ban of 75 and 100 watt incandescent bulbs in Britain, plasma TVs are slated to be on a near-ban status in the European Union this spring. I say "near-banned" because while the type isn't to be removed from the shelves completely, the units that exhibit the highest energy consumption will be banned in the near future. All of the remaining plasma TV models allowed to be sold in the European Union will be marked with energy rating labels so buyers will know the most efficient of the lot.

This movement to closely monitor the available plasma TVs in the region is an outgrowth of the reworking of the EU standards for minimum energy performance. As such, only those models found to be energy-efficient will continue to be sold in the EU. Plasma TVs are known to use four times the electricity CRT TVs use; much, much more than what LCD TVs of the same size would consume. The continuous improvements of EU standards for energy consumption are done to tackle increasing electricity usage in households.